Smart glove measures muscle stiffness

When it comes to assessing the chronic muscle stiffness of patients with conditions such as cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis, doctors pretty much just go by feel. They bend the affected limbs back and forth, then assign them a rating on a six-point scale. The problem is, the system is very subjective – different doctors could assign different ratings to the same patient, resulting in either more or less medication than is actually needed. That’s why a team from the University of California San Diego and Rady Children’s Hospital are developing a glove that measures muscle stiffness objectively.